Future Students:

2003

FLORENCE--A notice of intent to contract has been issued to Capstone Development Corp. of Birmingham, Ala., to build student housing for an additional 423 students at Francis Marion University.

Contracted through FMU’s Real Estate Foundation, the housing complex will be built in two phases on an 11-acre site near current campus housing. Phase one will consist of beds for 235 students and is expected to be ready for occupancy by August 2004. Phase two will be completed by August 2006 with an additional 188 beds.

In phase one, the housing agreement calls for Capstone to construct a new housing community consisting of 55 four-bedroom apartments, five two-bedroom units and five one-bedroom units.

The project will be built on the southeast side of the campus adjacent to Belle Isle, Snow Island and Ellen C. Watson Residence Halls. Parking Lot G will be expanded to the south to accommodate the additional students living on campus.

The additional 235 beds will bring FMU residence capacity to 1,369 by next fall and to 1,557 by 2006. For the last several years, FMU has had a waiting list for students wanting to live on campus each fall.

“This additional housing will relieve the crowded conditions we’ve had in our campus residential community,” said FMU President Fred Carter. “With our growth over the last few years, we could not accommodate all the students wanting to live in university housing. This contract will address a real need among our residential students.”

Phase one will consist of three, three-story apartment buildings and a community center that will eventually accommodate the entire complex. The community center will include a common lounge for social functions and meetings, a study lounge, a recreation and game room and a snack area.

Each apartment will include single bedrooms and private baths and shared living, dining and kitchen facilities. The apartments will be furnished with beds, chest-of-drawers, study desks, sofas, chairs, stoves, microwaves and dishwashers. The apartments will be wired for phone, cable television, and high-speed Internet access.

The new housing complex will be financed through bonds to be paid off through housing fees.

Capstone Development was founded in 1990 to focus exclusively on the development and management of student housing communities. The company has built more than 21,000 bedrooms on 42 college and university campuses across the country. The firm has built an additional 13,000 beds in 19 off-campus apartment communities. Regionally, the company has constructed student housing at Winthrop University and Western Carolina University.